
In call centers, DTMF signaling is mainly used to process user requests, obtain identification information, and route phone calls based on the keypad entries made by the caller. DTMF is employed in various industries ranging from telecommunications ( inbound/ outbound call centers) and financial institutions (banks and credit card companies) to insurance and healthcare organizations.

The primary function of dual-tone multi-frequency signaling is identifying the dialed number and process information from customers. DTMF can be transmitted over active telephone lines, the internet, and a radio. This unique signal pair is then transmitted to the local exchange and decoded to determine which number was dialed and how to route the call appropriately. When a key corresponding to a number or symbol is pressed, the phone generates a tone that simultaneously combines high-frequency and low-frequency signals. Each dial row is defined by a low tone frequency and each column by a high tone frequency. What is dual-tone multi-frequency signaling used for?ĭTMF works by assigning eight different audio frequencies to the rows and columns of the keypad. The keys A, B, C, D, ended up being dropped from consumer desk phone sets and are mainly used in radio equipment and internal network controls of telephone companies.

It was primarily used for telephone signaling to and from the local exchange, though DTMF made long-distance calling possible and today it is widely used in telecommunications and call centers.Īs the name suggests, dual-tone multi-frequency signaling uses a combination of eight audio frequencies transmitted in pairs to represent sixteen signals, represented by the ten numerical digits, the letters A to D, and the symbols # and *.


It subsequently became trademarked as ‘Touch-Tone’ for use in push-button telephones. Simply put, DTMF signaling translates audible tones from pressing keys on telephone keypads into readable information that telecom companies use to process incoming phone calls.Ī network of telecommunication companies called The Bell System introduced DTMF in 1963. What is dual-tone multi-frequency signaling?ĭual-tone multi-frequency signaling (also known as DTMF) is a telecommunications technology for transferring information between telephone devices and telephone switching centers by means of in-band audio tones sent over voice frequencies.
